BMGT30440 Managing in a Cross-Cultural Environment

Academic Year 2020/2021

Managing in a Cross-Cultural Environment is third & fourth level (year 3 and 4) advanced and applied module on cultural behaviour and the implications of diverse cultures for business. Developing analytical and evaluative capabilities are the key learning skills. This advanced module, with the focus on cultural and behavioural specificities, develops a strong sociological, psychological and anthropological theoretical underpinning. This informs the contextual analysis and evaluation of global communication, negotiation, decision-making, motivation, leadership, strategy, company and industry organisation, operations, and international teams.
This module enables students to acquire multicultural competencies which are highly valued by global employers. These skills have become of critical importance in a rapidly globalizing word where management practices differ greatly across national and regional boundaries.
Study areas will include: theoretical perspectives on culture, socio-ethical issues and behaviour; international communication, negotiation and decision-making; motivation and leadership in the international context; cultural impact on the formulation of strategies; culture and international company and industry organisational environment; culture and international operations; and managing international teams. All these key themes are supported by case studies.
Students will engage in advanced active project-related research and analytical problem solving in regard to managing in the international environment. Given the discursive nature of this module, individual class participation is of particular importance and graded accordingly.

Students will be challenged to integrate knowledge they have gained from other business courses, and apply their accumulated knowledge to related business case studies.
The course will require students to reflect, and to reflect critically, on their own cultural perceptions, norms, values and experiences, and help prepare them for the future challenges of managing in a cross-cultural environment.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. Discuss, describe, analyse and evaluate managing in a cross-cultural environment in terms of its characteristics and be able to apply theoretical concepts to a range of different international management and business settings.
2. Understand, analyse and evaluate how communication, negotiation, decision-making, motivation, leadership, strategy, company and industry organisation, operations, and managing international teams are profoundly impacted by cultural and behavioural specificities.
3. Through class content, case discussion, class dialogue and module assignments the students will develop analytical and reflective skills on managing across cultures as well as intercultural communicative competencies.

Indicative Module Content:

In this module, we cover topics and concepts related to values, cognition, organisational frameworks, communication, leadership, motivation, negotiation, and ethics. We emphasise ‘dualism’, identifying and leveraging similarities to resolve cultural misunderstandings.

In particular, we will:

1. Examine and describe a culture in terms of its features, how cultures differ and persist, the major debates surrounding culture today and culture and social groups, and be able to apply these theories and concepts to a range of different cultural and organisational settings.
2. Examine and describe how culture works based on cross-cultural interaction in terms of social cognition, cultural norms and scripts, selective perception, stereotypical expectations, differential attributions, the cross-cultural interaction model and finally the nature of motivation across culture.
3. Be able to critically appraise these different theories and concepts and critically evaluate their usefulness in addressing the problems of managing people from different cultures.
4. Describe and evaluate the manager as a decision maker and the cross-cultural dimensions of decision-making.
5. Examine and evaluate the manager as a negotiator through communication and negotiating across cultures.
6. Examine and evaluate the manager and his / her leadership role across different cultures.
7. Understand, analyse and evaluate the key issues relating to the successful management of multicultural groups and teams.
8. Understand, analyse and evaluate the challenge of international assignments for the employer and the prospective candidate for the international assignment.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

24
Autonomous Student Learning

70
Total

118
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is structured around a series of lectures across 12 weeks, class debate, and, where relevant, case studies and video materials. Class participation is an essential component of the design of this course. All students will be expected to engage in class discussion and debate in order to facilitate the formation of their critical judgments. Students are expected to have their name cards in class.

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND SHORT INDIVIDUAL ESSAYS

Class participation is an essential component of the design of this course. All students will be expected to engage in class discussion and debate in order to facilitate the formation of their critical judgments.
Students will be expected to submit their individual short essays prior to class throughout the semester.
Students will write short personal reflections on different topics.
Please see the folder “Individual Essay” in the Assignments section in Brightspace for more information.
There are no marks given for attendance, but attendance will be documented. Students are always expected to have their name cards in class. The class participation assignment is based on 20% of the total course marks.

GROUP PROJECTS

The key in this Group Project will be to step outside your own cultural box and to further develop/enhance your cultural empathy skills. In this project, I would like you to be imaginative, creative as well as analytical and evaluative. There are three possible project options. Each option involves a written and oral component. More details on the options will be discussed in the class.
Projects will be presented and submitted in Weeks 10, 11 & 12 on a “first come first served” basis. By week 5 all groups will submit provisional titles for the project and projects’ pitches (see Brightspace for more details). Please see the folder “Major Group Project” in the Assignments section in Brightspace for more information on the project. The assignment is 40% of the total course marks.

GROUP PRESENTATION

Presentation in the class of the assigned academic readings and other assignments are done in groups on a weekly basis. Please see the folder “Group Presentation” in the Assignments section in Brightspace for more information. The assignment is 10% of the total course marks.

INDIVIDUAL FINAL EXAM-ESSAY

Purpose: The evaluation will assess your knowledge of the course content. The questions will focus on the concept and tools discussed in the class and covered in the associated texts. You will be expected to support your answers with examples. This is a 3000-word essay.
Process: Individual Exam-Essay will be done individually and submitted by week 12. The exam-essay is based on 30% of the total course marks.
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

Recommended Modules:

Basics of Management
Management & Organisational Behaviour
Foundation of Strategy


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Class participation and Individual short essays Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded Yes

20
Group Project: Major Group Project and Project Presentation Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded Yes

40
Presentation: Group Presentation of selected readings Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10
Examination: Individual exam essay Week 12 No Graded Yes

30

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Group and class feedback will be given during the semester.

The essential textbook and readings for this module are:

Main Text:
Richard M. Steers (Author), Joyce S. Osland (Author), Management Across Cultures: Developing Global Competencies, 4d Edition, Cambridge University Press.

Main Readings:
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in
Psychology and Culture, 2(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014

Katze, L. (2017) Negotiating International Business: The Negotiator's Reference Guide to 50 Countries Around the World,
Book Surge Publishing; 3ed edition.